


The Sound of Settling

by Recourse



Series: Lift Up These Lifeless Bones [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Casual Intimacy, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/F, LGBTQ Themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-05 08:01:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13383591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Recourse/pseuds/Recourse
Summary: Snapshots of Kate and Chloe's first year in their shared apartment.





	1. 1 Corinthians 6:20

“I think I want a tattoo.”

Chloe’s used to Kate’s mumblings in those moments before they both fall asleep, lying together in the dark. Usually she forgets all about them by morning, but this feels different. Kate’s voice has more definition than usual, the way she sounds when she’s admitting something she’s thought long and hard about before bringing it to Chloe.

“Oh yeah?” Chloe whispers, running her hand up Kate’s stomach, nestling further into her back. Kate hums contentedly as Chloe squeezes her. She is, in Chloe’s opinion, an _excellent_ little spoon.

“Yeah.”

“What of?”

“I’ve been sketching designs.” Kate shifts in her grip. “I have one that turned out really well.”

“Oh?”

“Mhm. I think I want it…” Kate takes Chloe’s hand and drags it to her hip, pressing her index finger into her soft sleep-shorts. “Here.”

“That’s a pretty bony spot,” Chloe tells her. “It’s gonna hurt.”

“You won’t hurt me.”

“Oh, so I’m doing it for you?” Chloe chuckles. “My rates are high.”

“I want it to be something only you get to see.”

Well that shuts Chloe up. Kate giggles, turning over in her arms and looking into her eyes. “Would you want to do it?”

“Yeah,” Chloe breathes. “I’d, um...you wanna do it at home, right?”

Kate nods. “Yeah. I’d like it to be just us.” She kisses the hollow of Chloe’s throat.

Chloe shivers, and tries to focus on practicalities even as Kate nuzzles into her chest. “I’ll have to steal some supplies from work.”

“Or you could ask. Aren’t you closed Sundays?”

“Guess so. Trey likes me. Long as I work the morning after…”

“So you’ll do it?” Kate looks up at her. Puppy-dog eyes on, full blast.

She doesn’t _need_ to do that. Chloe will basically do whatever she asks anyway. But she appreciates it regardless.

“Of course.” Chloe kisses the top of Kate’s head. “Just tell me when you’re ready.”

 

* * *

 

Kate watches Chloe trace over the final design they’d picked together for her stencil, each bud on the cross of flowers she’d drawn matched carefully in blue ink. Kate’s breathing hard. This idea’s been in her head since summer, honestly, since before they even moved in together, and now it’s actually going to happen.

Chloe looks over her shoulder and sees Kate watching her. “Hey, uh,” she murmurs, “You should…”

Kate feels her cheeks go red. Of course. She looks down at herself, realizing she should’ve taken her clothes off before Chloe even started. She shimmies her pajama pants down and throws them over the couch, then heads to the chair they’d put in the kitchen (Chloe said tiled floors were best) and breathes.

God, Kate, it’s not like this is anywhere near the first time you’ve been naked in front of Chloe. It just feels...different, somehow. Usually Kate’s in charge of the situation, and Chloe will do what she asks or wants from her without much hesitation, and it feels less vulnerable than this.

She wants it, of course. This connection. Having Chloe mark her body. Giving her the right to do that, to spend this hour trusting her completely. It just feels like it’s going to be a _lot._

But she signed up for this and she’s not backing out now. Carefully, she lowers her underwear, feeling the spot where the tattoo will be. A small, hidden thing under her waistband. Just for her and Chloe.

She sits down on the chair, leaning back into it, closing her eyes. “Ready,” Chloe says, standing up from the table and crossing the distance between them. As Kate opens her eyes again, she meets Chloe’s gaze. She’s biting her lip, looking just as nervous as Kate feels. “Um,” she murmurs softly, “Spread your legs?”

Right. Of course. Only so she can tattoo you properly, no other reasons, Kate. Not yet anyway. As she does, Chloe kneels down and gently wipes Kate’s hip with a damp cloth. “Disinfecting,” she says. Kate nods, looking down at the image of Chloe between her legs and feeling her body’s automatic pulse in response, the memories of other times swirling in her brain. She’s dizzy.

Chloe carefully lays the stencil over Kate’s skin, peeling it off to show the blue lines that will guide her work. She looks up at Kate. “Look good?” she asks.

 _You really do,_ Kate thinks, before swallowing and looking where she’s actually supposed to be getting needles stuck in her skin. “Just like I imagined,” she says with a shaky smile.

“Good, I hate making a second stencil,” Chloe says with a smile, patting Kate’s opposite thigh. Kate tries to keep herself steady as Chloe raises herself up and brings the ink and gun over. Pure black. Simple work; Kate wants it to be bold and clear.

Chloe kneels between Kate’s legs again, her free hand roaming lightly over Kate’s opposite hipbone, then tracing the inside of her thigh. Kate chokes, tingles running through her body, and she blushes even harder. When Chloe’s eyes flick up towards her, she wants to gasp. They’re so dark, and the voice that comes out of her is a soft whisper.

“You are so beautiful,” she murmurs, kissing her thigh softly.

“I’ve gained weight,” Kate mumbles, embarrassed. “I’m all—”

“Soft and curvy,” Chloe interrupts, kissing her again, lower this time, just on the cusp. This is cruel. “It’s just ‘cuz I actually feed you. You look amazing.”

Kate wants to cover her face. Chloe needs to stop kissing her and saying such nice things because she’s going to forget all about the tattoo thing entirely if she keeps it up. Chloe rubs her inner thigh again, and then asks, “Ready?”

Kate lets out a long breath. “Yeah.”

The tattoo gun is _loud_ , and Kate doesn’t expect the sting, not really. Her body goes taut, trying not to let it show, not wanting Chloe to stop. It’ll be over quickly, she knows that, it’s so small. She bites her lip, gripping the edges of the chair to hold herself steady, and trying to ignore the opposing feeling that is Chloe kneading the skin on her other thigh with her free hand, thumb running in circles.

God. Chloe’s _right there_ . Surely she can tell _all_ the ways this is affecting Kate. She squeezes her eyes shut tight, even as Chloe takes breaks to re-dip her needles and wipe the blood off. “Hey,” Chloe says, taking Kate’s chin as she’s about to head down again. She wipes a stray tear off of Kate’s cheek, and Kate opens her eyes, not realizing she’d been crying.

“Just a couple more minutes, kay?” She sounds so concerned. Kate knows she’s the only one who ever gets that tone from Chloe.

“I’m okay,” Kate whispers. “I can handle it.”

“I know.” Chloe leans in and kisses her. “You’re tough.”

Kate chuckles. “Only you’d say that about me.”

“‘Cuz I’m the only one close enough to see it.” Chloe kisses her once more, then kneels again. “Just relax. You’ll be all wrapped up soon.”

Kate nods, and lets out a whimper when the needle starts buzzing against her skin again. But true to Chloe’s word, it’s over soon, and she leans back to let Kate get a good look at it before she wraps it.

“I didn’t screw it up, did I?” Chloe asks. Kate reaches down to touch it, and Chloe grabs her wrist. “Nuh uh, no touchy.”

“It looks perfect,” Kate murmurs. Chloe beams up at her., then gives the fresh tattoo one last wipe before carefully winding gauze around it. Kate relaxes into the chair, letting her do her work, grateful for the end of this...experience, even if it was such an odd, intimate moment.

“Give it a couple hours, then we’ll unwrap you and clean you. I’ll make sure you stay on top of it,” Chloe says, giving the bandage a pat. “‘Til then, though…”

Kate lets out a gasp as Chloe kisses between her legs. Her only thought, as she leans forward and grips Chloe’s hair in her hands, is _finally._


	2. Proverbs 5:19

Kate’s thinking about it too much.

She shouldn’t be like this. Just this morning, as they’d showered together, Chloe had washed Kate’s tattoo, as usual, and then gone further, and made Kate late to class. That should’ve been enough. She shouldn’t be here, tapping her foot on the bus home, legs tense, biting her knuckles,  _ thinking about it.  _

Chloe’s gotten more comfortable lately. Especially on her days off. She doesn’t like wearing many clothes in the apartment. Kate’s imagining walking in to see her topless and just—

Focus. Get home first.

There’s still that little niggling itch in her, when she lets herself get like this. A whisper of a voice that once dominated her mind, telling her she’s sick and wrong for wanting this. Giving into her base, bodily desires in such a way. 

But then Kate remembers how Chloe treats her, her hands reverently moving across her hips, the soft kisses she leaves down Kate’s body, always stopping on her tattoo. Kate’s body is holy to her, the temple at which she worships, and Kate always feels so blessed by her attention. She feels God’s love in Chloe’s, the truest sign that they’re made in His image, that they share His generous spirit.

The bus stops, and Kate’s knocked out of her thoughts for a few moments while she gathers her bookbag and heads off, giving a thank-you to the driver as she goes. The apartment’s only a block away from the stop, and yet Kate loses her ability to focus regardless, swimming in fantasy. She finds herself at their door in no time, barely remembering getting off the street and going up the stairs. 

As soon as she’s inside she sees Chloe topless on the couch, hitting the pause button on some video game and quickly vaulting over the back to greet her. She grabs Kate’s hips, but doesn’t move further, giving her nothing but a big grin and a “Hey.”

She always waits for Kate. Kate rarely makes her wait for long.

Just the sight of her is enough to break down any barriers she might’ve had, and Kate grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her down, kissing her firmly. She never wants to hurt Chloe, but there’s something  _ fantastic  _ in being the one who decides what happens, when, for how long, and the little surprised and happy noises Chloe always makes just make it better. Something’s burning within her, hungry and impatient, and she wants to feed it so badly that romance and propriety and  _ beds  _ are forgotten. She pushes further down on Chloe’s shoulders until she’s kneeling between Kate’s legs, hands gripping her thighs as Kate tugs up her own skirt. Chloe’s eyes are wide and dark as she looks up at Kate, a question that Kate can’t bring herself to answer verbally. Instead, she takes Chloe’s hands, directs them up, lets her take her underwear and pull it down, stepping out of it. 

She grabs the back of Chloe’s head, pushes it between her legs, and keeps her grip loose as Chloe takes her sweet time, all the ritualistic little hand motions, the way her fingers draw patterns in her skin, her kisses soft gentle on her hips, her inner thighs. 

Kate pushes her in again, and Chloe obeys, tasting Kate as she has so many times before. Kate can always trust her, knows that she won’t stop until she’s satisfied, until the swirling of her tongue, the gentle tug of her lips bring her to—

_ There.  _ It comes over her like a low-tide wave, soft shudders through her thighs and back, feet tensing to keep herself upright. She lets out a long sigh, letting go of Chloe’s hair, wanting to brace herself against something even though she’s  _ in the middle of the living room with all her clothes dripping in sweat  _ **_good Lord Kate._ **

Chloe rises up, and Kate falls into her, swaying on her feet. Chloe chuckles, one arm going around Kate’s shoulders, the other teasing through her hair. “Now that’s a hello,” she murmurs into Kate’s ear. Kate just hugs her tight, heart still pounding. 

Chloe separates from her, holding onto her hand and tugging her towards the bedroom. Kate only takes the time to kick off her shoes before following.

 

* * *

 

They’ve been cooling off long enough that Chloe thinks it’s probably time to start dinner when Kate speaks up.

“What’s it taste like?” she asks, completely out of  _ nowhere,  _ her voice vibrating against Chloe’s chest.

“Uhm,” is all Chloe can come up with for a second. “You mean—”   


“When you go down on me.”

And Chloe starts to realize why she’s asking, and relaxes again, stroking Kate’s back as she shifts on top of her so their eyes can meet. “I dunno,” she answers, honestly. She knows to never joke with Kate about this kind of stuff. “I mean, like you, I guess. I’m not really thinking about it when I’m down there. Just about you.”

Kate raises a hand up, tracing Chloe’s collarbone, her face in that cute little  _ thinking  _ contortion. “I haven’t done it for you yet.”

“You don’t—”

“I’m nervous. I...I wanna be good at it.”

“Nobody’s great their first time,” Chloe tells her. 

“But—oh. I guess you’re right.” Kate clings to her. “You...you must have done it before me.”

Chloe’s mouth goes dry. Fuck. “Yeah.”

“Did she…?”

“Don’t compare yourself, Kate,” Chloe urges. “I love what we have. So much. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

“I do want to,” Kate murmurs. “I don’t know when, but — I wanna do everything you do for me. Just to be fair.”

“Don’t worry about  _ fair _ , Kate.” Chloe sits up a bit, bringing Kate with her. “I’m serious, I love this — what we do — so much. I love making you feel good. Gets me off by itself sometimes, I swear.”   


Kate giggles. “You’re just saying that.”

“You watch me the next time I go down on you and try to say I’m having a bad time.”

Kate sighs. “Okay. Okay.” She nuzzles into Chloe’s chest. “I love you.”

“Love you too.” Chloe kisses the top of her head. “Now I should start dinner. Fucking you is hungry work.”

Kate giggles scandalously. “Chloe!”   


“Gotta get some fuel for round three, is all,” Chloe says, waggling her eyebrows, and Kate keeps laughing, hugging her close, and the gravity of it all is lifted from them because they’re in love and it hardly matters either way.


	3. Ephesians 4:25

Chloe checks the timer on the oven, confirming that she’s got twenty minutes ‘till the dip’s ready. Kate told her she didn’t have to cook anything, she’d order pizza, she could really just relax and hang out with her and her friend. But Kate doesn’t realize that to Chloe, making food is part of the routine now, and how she shows affection, so the least she can do is a three-cheese Mexican dip recipe from the internet to woo Kate’s friend with. What was her name? Jessica?

Chloe shakes her head. Not important. She’ll be introduced. As the roommate.

She bites her cheek at the thought. It’s fine. It’s how things have to be for Kate. She agreed to this. Well, kind of. She agreed to it when it came to Kate’s parents _,_ and also had that stipulation that she doesn’t go to family events and pretend to be the best friend, and then Kate just sort of told her that she’s been telling her friends that her _roommate_ is the one who makes all her good-smelling lunches and her _roommate_ who takes such good care of the apartment.

And what could Chloe say? _Jeopardize our safety and relationship to make me feel better?_ So she’ll deal.

She heads into the bathroom, checking herself in the mirror. Makeup? Should she bother? She doesn’t need to put on the girly-girl show for this, right? Not that she’d be too good at it, after she dyed her hair a nice violet shade. But if she leaves it down, it covers the undercut.

She pulls it back into a ponytail and sheds her hoodie, letting her tattoo and bullets show proud in a black tank. Fuck it. She should get to shock _someone._ It’s her damn apartment.

Satisfied with herself, she heads out and disconnects her laptop from the TV,  bringing it into the spare bedroom, which is supposedly her room but she never sleeps there. Alice’s crate takes up the space in front of the closet, and Chloe’s old desk on the other side. They’ve taken to calling it “Alice’s room,” because according to Kate she’s an equal member of the household, and Chloe can’t disagree. She distracts herself with a stream, trying not to worry too much about blowing cover.

She hears the front door unlock and heads out of the bedroom, then realizes she can’t give Kate her standard welcome-home kiss and hangs back, unsure what exactly to do with herself. She quickly flops down on the loveseat and calls out a “Hey, Kate!” as the door opens, turning to look over the back of the couch like she’s been there the whole time.

“Hey, Chloe!” Kate calls as her friend follows in behind her. She’s a little taller than Kate, with long brown hair and glasses, a black hoodie and jeans sort of girl. The only thing that would make Chloe pick her out as a potential friend for Kate is the little silver cross around her neck.

Kate sniffs the air. “Chloe, I told you you don’t have to make anything!” she complains, leaning over to bop Chloe on the head. “We already ordered pizza back at campus!”

“Chill out, it’s just dip,” Chloe says, warding off the attempted assault with a flailed hand. “Snacks for bingin’. You know if I don’t do _something_ on my days off I get itchy.” She shifts to look at Kate’s friend, holding a hand out over the edge and wiggling her fingers. “‘Sup. I’m Chloe.”

“Jessie,” the girl says, coming forward as Kate circles around to the front of the couch. “Kate talks about you all the time.”

“Does she?” Chloe asks, raising an eyebrow at Kate and watching her cheeks turn just a bit pink.

“Apparently you’re the best roommate ever?” Jessie says with a smile.

“Damn straight. Dunno what this chick would do without me.”

Kate clears her throat. “Chloe, where’s your laptop?”

“Oh, it’s in Ali— my room,” Chloe says. As Kate goes to grab it, Jessie uneasily sits down on the opposite couch.

“So how’d you two meet?” Jessie asks, looking Chloe up and down. “I’ll admit, I didn’t really expect you to be so…”

“Awesome?” Chloe supplies, flexing her arms. That free-weight set was an _excellent_ purchase.

Jessie chuckles. “Yeah, that. How’d you end up living together? Just Craigslist or something?”

“Girl, you are asking for a _super_ long and personal story that I don’t think you actually wanna hear right now,” Chloe warns. “Let’s simplify it and say we met in her senior year and things got super messed up but we were kinda there for each other.”

“Gotcha,” Jessie says with a nod. “Well, I think it’s cool you guys are such good friends. Big fan of odd couples.”

Chloe’s struck with a sudden thought, _should I tell her we’re not a couple? Would that look too defensive? Is this normal banter?_ **_How do you act straight?_ **

Thankfully, Kate comes in a moment later, trailing power cables behind her. “Have you been keeping up with Korra, Chloe?” Jessie asks as Kate sets about connecting the HDMI.

“Yeah, me and Kate watch it. Kate likes rewatching after your guys’ sessions so she can pick new stuff up,” Chloe says, not adding the _And so we can geek out about how Korra and Asami should date_ that follows in her mind. “So don’t worry, I’m as far as you guys.” 

“Kate’s such a geek,” Jessie says affectionately.

“I didn’t used to be, but now Chloe’s got me watching all this cool stuff. She basically educated me in what good things are,” Kate says with a laugh. “Without her I’d only have Bibleman to go on…”

“Oh, God, don’t tell me your parents made you watch that garbage,” Jessie says with a giggle. “I mean, mine too, but at least they stopped after the first rental. They had _some_ standards.”

Something in Chloe twinges, but she doesn’t say anything, and the oven timer beeps. She gets up and rescues the dip from the oven, lays out heating pads for the glass container on the coffee table, and brings out the tortilla chips for everyone to dig in. Kate sits with Jessie, leaving Chloe alone on the couch, and she realizes she doesn’t get to have her arm around Kate, or stretch her legs across Kate’s lap, or...anything.

She’s not sure what to do with herself, really. She busies her hands with eating while they work through three episodes, trying to keep up with the discussion and not just stare at Kate and want to make it clear who is in love with who around here. The pizza is a welcome distraction.

When the episodes are done, Kate briefly takes Jessie into Alice’s room to meet the little rabbit, and shows her how to pick her up, all while Chloe cleans up and hangs back because she can’t help it, this feels so _awkward._ If she was Kate’s girlfriend, it’d be okay to just follow her around, making small talk with her friends. But if she’s supposed to be her roommate…

As she puts away the dip, she realizes how badly she wants to Jessie to _go._ For this place to be her and Kate’s sanctuary from this anxiety-inducing closeted bullshit.

As Kate leads Jessie to the door and they exchange a goodbye hug, Chloe realizes something. She can’t do this again. Jessie gives one last goodbye wave to Chloe as she goes, and then the door closes, and the space feels safe again. She lets out a sigh of relief.

She meets Kate’s eyes, and sees Kate’s face open in a worried expression, walking over to her behind the kitchen counter. Chloe gets a big, soft hug, and gratefully rests her chin on top of Kate’s head.

“Are you okay?” Kate asks. “You seemed a little bit…”

“Kate,” Chloe sighs, feeling a hollow in her gut, not wanting to hurt Kate feelings or start an argument, but… “I can’t do that again.”

“Oh, God, I didn’t like it either,” Kate says with a nervous laugh. “I mean, I like having her over, but…”

“Listen, if you wanna do this again, you _have_ to be honest with her. I felt so...closeted and weird and…” Chloe slumps her shoulders. “Kinda unwanted.”

“I’m sorry,” Kate says, looking away. “I...I’m trying to make it as safe as I can, but...I never wanted to hurt you.”

“I know.” Chloe hugs her close. “Just...I think that’s my limit for that. This is _our_ apartment. Unless it’s a hundred percent necessary, I wanna be totally comfortable being myself here, you know?”

“Yeah.” Kate sniffs.

“It’s not like if your friends know it’s gonna get back to your parents,” Chloe offers.

“I know. I’m just so used to this being private, it’s hard to tell new people. But I like her, and the other friends I’ve made so far…” Kate sighs. “But...yeah. If I invite anyone else over, they’ll know the deal. Okay?”

“Okay.” Chloe kisses her forehead. “Sorry I got all insecure.”

“It’s all right. Like I said, I didn’t really like it either. It didn’t feel as safe as if she just knew already.”

“It’s better to know now if she’s gonna freak out at you, you know?”

Kate leans up and kisses her cheek. “Next time, I’ll be braver. I promise.”

 

* * *

 

Kate _wants_ to tell Jessie. The problem is finding an opportunity. Finals have come up , everyone’s busy, Korra's been postponed until everyone’s done studying, and study sessions usually take place in the dorms to save most of her friends the trip to anywhere else.

But when the perfect opportunity hits Kate square in the jaw, she takes it.

They’re in Jessie’s room, their notebooks sprawled all over the floor like they were launched from a cannon, when Jessie checks her laptop and makes a groaning sound. Kate looks up from her spot on Jessie’s bed.

“Well, I have to figure out what the hell I’m doing,” Jessie complains, throwing her head back over her seat and looking at Kate upside-down.

“Don’t we all?” Kate replies.

“Super philosophical, Kate, but seriously, I’m a little bit screwed.” Jessie spins her chair around to face Kate. “They rescheduled my last final and now my parents have tickets that are too late. I’m supposed to be out twenty-four hours after my last final and they’re arriving _two days_ after.”

“Oh,” and then Kate realizes what she should do. She swallows. “Um, you can come stay with me and Chloe for that extra day.”

“I guess I could couch-crash,” Jessie muses. “Than—”

“You don’t have to sleep on the couch,” Kate says, her cheeks getting pink.

“I’m not kicking you out of your own bed,” Jessie says, folding her arms. “I will accept a certain amount of niceness, no more.”

“You can take Chloe’s. She, um, doesn’t use it most nights.”

Jessie raises an eyebrow. “So where does she sleep?”

Kate takes a deep breath. “In, um...in mine.”

Jessie’s eyes widen. “Oh,” she says softly, and Kate looks down at the bed, picking at the covers absently.

“I’m — I’m sorry I lied to you before, I was scared, but—”

She feels Jessie’s arms around her suddenly, and relaxes. As Jessie draws back, she smiles at Kate. “It’s okay,” she assures her, taking a seat beside her on the bed.

“S-sorry, again. My parents don’t know, and I’ve gotten used to...lying. It made me feel safer,” Kate explains.

“Well, thanks for trusting me with it, anyway,” Jessie says, gently touching Kate’s shoulder. “I know it’s gotta be hard, but...I’m glad you told me.”  
“Me too,” Kate admits. “It’s kinda scary trying to hide it.”

“So how long have you guys been dating?” Jessie asks.

Kate thinks back, and smiles to herself. “Just about a year now.”

“Aw,” Jessie coos. “I asked Chloe earlier, but...how _did_ you guys meet?”

“It’s a long story,” Kate says with a sigh. “I might cry if I tell you the whole thing.”

“I have time.”

 

* * *

 

As Chloe pulls into the parking lot, she spies Kate and Jessie carrying a couple of bags and some pillows precariously. She beeps her horn once, waving frantically at them, and watches Kate drop a bag and chuckles to herself. She hops out of the truck and runs over to them, grabbing a bag from each of them.

Once everything’s tossed in the back of Chloe’s truck, Chloe turned to Jessie and sticks out a hand. “What’s up, I’m Chloe, Kate’s girlfriend,” she offers, and Jessie laughs and shakes.

“Nice to meet you properly,” Jessie says with a smile. “So, we’re watching the finale of Korra once we get to your place, right? I’m dying for something _fun_ after this week.”

“Damn straight,” Chloe confirms. “And if what I’ve been hearing about it on the Internet is true, I just won a bet with Kate.”

Kate laughs. “No spoilers, Chloe!”

“I can’t help it if my Twitter feed is full of inconsiderate jackasses,” Chloe says with a shrug as she climbs into the driver’s side. Kate takes the middle, and snuggles up close to Chloe as Jessie gets in beside her.

As they set off, Chloe relaxes into her seat, knowing that their home is truly theirs, and opening it doesn’t have to mean giving that up.


End file.
